Repentance - It’s not what you think it is

Repentance - It’s not what you think it is

I say, “Repentance means to change your mind,” and you say, “Yes, about sin. Therefore repentance means to stop sinning.” But I say, “No. Repentance is much more than that, much deeper,” and your eyes glaze over because you have already decided you know what it is.

What you have done is to fit the word “repentance” into your already existing paradigm. It is a transformational concept that you have not allowed to transform you. However you phrase it, you have decided that your main reason for being is to be sinless, or sin less, and that is all repentance will ever mean to you: “Knock it off!”

Your repentance leads to a life of trying. What I’m suggesting is that if you really understood what repentance is, you might have a shot at real freedom from sin.

So, again, I say to you simply, repentance means to change your mind.

Let me restate it: Repentance means to transform your mind: “...but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This is a broad mandate, but here I want to show you specifically how this relates to human behavior. We still think too much like earthbound humans. We do not see things from a spiritual perspective. We don’t see what is in front of us the same way God does. Some call it a kingdom perspective.

First, it is important to understand that we act out of who we are. Or to put it another way, we act out of what we believe. This is what James is really talking about when he writes, “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (2:18). He means that his faith, his beliefs about the world and the kingdom, lead him to act. You see, if you claim to have a real, actual, relationship with God, you will act in a way that is consistent with that. If you do not act, it proves that you do not have that kind of faith.

The remedy is not to go out and do good deeds. That would be a lie; you’re faking it. The remedy is to find that transformation of your mind that will make you the kind of person who does those deeds. And that is how you overcome sin as well.

If you do things that you know you shouldn’t do, or have been told you shouldn’t do, then somewhere deep down inside, you believe that activity has a value. You are likely trying to try to balance the value of that thing with the value you see in God, and the battle ensues.

Consider that the idea that you can balance these things is false.

If you change your mind about trying to balance, it changes everything. You don’t repent of the sin, per se, you repent of the idea that you can balance that activity with your relationship with God. Once you truly let go of the false idea that you can balance your Self and God, everything changes. You begin to transform your thinking, and then your outcomes follow.

What you have to come to grips with is that no one deliberately does things they think are bad, so whatever you are doing, on some level, you think it is good. You may say gossip is bad, but then why do you talk about people behind their backs? Because it makes you feel superior. So the “good” is the gratification you get from being able to represent yourself as better than the person you are talking about. If you can recognize that you are feeding your ego and that is not “good,” then you transform your idea of gossip from a good thing to a bad thing. You will begin to extinguish the desire to gossip, because you no longer see any value in it.

This is it. Transformation.

This is how you overcome. Any attempt to directly change a behavior, is just symptom relief. Even if you could control the behavior, you haven’t solved the problem in the heart. Let God work on your heart. Then, only allowing God to change your mind will lead to real changes in behavior. I would even argue that if you succeeded in changing the behavior without changing your heart and mind is dangerous, because it leaves you with the disease (sin), without any signs to tell you you have a problem.

You must dig into your heart of hearts to find what the false value is (others have called them idols). What benefit do you think you derive from putting people down, looking at pornography, fighting to get what you want, etc? We can make an endless list of “sins,” but it’s where they come from that matters. What benefit do you think you might derive from that activity? Especially, unconsciously?

Think about the drug addict. He knows the danger, but he does it anyway. Why? One scenario might be to avoid pain. He thinks that facing his demons, perhaps from his past, is scarier than the side effects of the drugs. He gets a high, which he values, but also gets to avoid the pain of confronting his demons. That’s the false belief. The truth is that, while confronting demons is painful, overcoming them leads to peace. If he can transform his thinking to believe that facing his fears is better, then he can proceed. It must begin with a new way of thinking.

I use drugs an example because I think it makes a clear lesson, but this is not about drugs. This is about all of our behaviors that don’t line up. You must find the false belief. You must realize that it is harmful, not valuable. Even if it seems a good things, you must realize that it keeps you from a better thing.

So: You do value something more than or above Him. Figure out what it is. Understand that it is not good, or not as good as the right thing. When the “sinful” thing is not valuable to you, it diminishes. You are allowing Him to transform your mind.

Paul says, “...and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:4). What he’s saying is that you must be totally dedicated to Him and His kingdom. You cannot carve out a little space of your own to indulge in from time to time. The only “me” time in the kingdom is that which rejuvenates you to live better for him. Everything must be evaluated by this rule: “Love God with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength.” If you can’t do it for God, it has to go.

Repent: Let that transform your mind. Peace awaits.

Sin is a condition, not an action

Sin Is a Condition, Not an Action

Previously, I proposed three ways of defining/looking at “sin” that I think are more useful, but I'm going to change the order a little, and hopefully address the second 2.

1. Sin is selfishness, when YOU are your goal, that’s sin.
2. Sin is anything good done in the wrong context, or for the wrong reason. For instance, consider that sex in itself is good, but it all depends on when, where, why and with whom.
3. Sin IS turning away from God; anything you do on your own and not THROUGH him is by definition sin.

I am going to begin with the third principle, that turning away from God IS sin. But this definition is wrapped up in the first one. Sin is selfishness and there are only two ways to be self-centered, or God centered. Therefore, if you are acting selfishly, you ARE turning away from God, and by definition, that is “sin.”

Remember Jesus saying you cannot have two masters (Matthew 6:24); either you are in charge of he is. If anything, in deed or action (yes, even omission) does not begin with him, then it is sin. Again, to reiterate what I think is so important about this is that we must get away from the idea that the sinfulness is located in actions, deeds. It is not. That idea leaves you in charge, making decisions about when you will “serve” your Self and when you will “serve” him.

Are there actions that are necessarily bad? Try to make a list of things people do that are always bad. Can you think of any circumstances in which those actions could be good? I claim that the blame lies, not in the act, but in the origin of the intent.

I’m sure you’ve heard somewhere that the Bible does not say, “Thou shalt not kill” It says, “Thou shalt not murder.” But what is murder, but killing that is wrong? Therefore, it is not a edict against all killing, but only certain kinds of killing. And how do we determine what kinds of killing are wrong? Doesn’t it come down to intent?

You might say that adultery is always wrong, but the same principle applies. The “act” there is sex, and adultery is sex done in a way that is wrong. Sex is not wrong, it depends on how, when, and why you’re doing it. At the heart of adultery is a selfishness that disregards what God wants, and what the adulterer's spouse wants, because what the Self wants is more important.

I could go on, but find me a counterexample. What action is always bad? I encourage you to consider this, if not to disprove me, but because I think there is a value in considering what God really means by the word “sin.”

This I call “Level 2” (because I think we can go even deeper, but more on that later). So, where did I get this idea that the “sin” is in the intent? For this, I turn to Paul, and a passage that often gets us sidetracked. “All things are lawful to me, but all things are not beneficial” (1 Corinthians 6:12 and 10:23). Rather than get caught up in what we can get away with, notice the important principal. Forget about what you can do; what should you do? What will help you toward your goal (the kingdom).

Does this not change the way you look at sin. Put aside your list of rules, your dos and don’ts. Ask yourself what is going to get you to your goals. If your goal is the benefit of “the kingdom,” what “sin” would you commit under this principle? Furthermore, the definition of sin is anything that doesn’t help you to the goal.

1. Is it selfish?
2. Does it benefit Jesus and his plan?

Consider all of the discussions that Paul gives about things like whether or not to eat meat sacrificed to idols. What is his key consideration? Don’t stumble your brother (i.e. 1 Corinthian 8:13). It’s not about what you do, but why. If you could damage another’s relationship with God (the kingdom), but you do it anyway, you’re being selfish.

But let me continue. Level 3:  It’s about the heart.

Jesus. Look at the Matthew 5:21-30. The basic concept is: forget actually killing each other; a scornful heart is murder. Never mind adultery, if you lust, you’ve already crossed the line.

Now let me say that I never want to take away from the real intent of this passage. What Jesus is doing is upping the bar. He is trying to make it clear that the “mark” we are missing is an inner and outer perfection that is unattainable. You see, what the Pharisees had done is dumb down the law to make it tough but manageable. That way, they could claim perfection. (But don’t we all do that?) Jesus was giving a truer definition of the expectations of the law. When one truly understands what is expected, one should instantly realize that they have not only failed, but that it is impossible. Why? So that you will take the remedy: Grace. He doesn’t want you to try harder; he wants you to give up. “Let go. Let God” is not trite; it’s crucial and indispensable.

Now, for our purposes, there is another lesson here: It is about the heart (Level 3). Once you grasp that it begins with why you are doing what you are doing, we can move on. So, first we ask, is it for my benefit or his? Am I seeking first the benefit of “the kingdom,” or my own kingdom? But now Jesus shows us that the actions are characterized by the heart that they come out of. This not different than the previous level, but a deeper understanding.

Think on the text. You know that murder is wrong, but now you can’t even get angry? This is too hard. But look and see: this anger is a condition of the heart. It is a condition, a state of being. It is not an activity that you can just try harder to not do. It is impossible to restrain it. It is the center of who you are. If the heart is bad, you are done. You can’t try harder, do good deeds, or fix it. You can’t do better, because it isn’t something you did. It is so tempting to think about you can restrain your anger, or improve your thought life. But those are counter actions that may have some effect on actions, but that it symptom relief.

You have a condition: a bad heart. The murder, or the scorn, happened because you have a murderous, scornful heart. Even if you can stop thinking angry thoughts, you haven’t solved the problem; the heart is still bad. It is my understanding that an alcoholic who simply stops drinking is what is called a “dry drunk,” and all AA members know that he hasn’t gotten to the root of the problem. He will ultimately fail.

This is where we find ourselves. So what is the answer?

Be transformed (Romans 12:2). But you don’t do that. He does. All of the reasons we have for behaviors that most of us identify as “sinful” stem from that corrupt selfish heart. Until the heart changes, nothing else matters. It is just window dressing, or rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. I also think a “dry sinner” is the worst condition, because it allows you to live a lie that only keeps you from truly changing.

If we preach sin as “bad things that people do,” we keep alive the lie that one can just do better. We interfere with God’s goal of transformation. If you want to preach sin, preach that it is selfishness. Preach that it is anything not done for God, anything done for the wrong reason.

Better yet, preach turning to God, knowing that anyone who turns to God will necessarily turn away from “sin” (Self).

Don’t try to balance your desires (or even “needs”) with the kingdom. Let go of Self and let the healing begin.

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